Telephone-exchange apparatus.



PATENTED AUG. 1, '1905.1

E. B. RIES'. TELEPHONE EXCHANGE APPARATUS.

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AIEPLIOATION FILED MAY 20. 1904.

AHORA/B5 W/ TNESSES.'

To' rtl?, 11j/1,0m. 'it may concern:

' lby the use cfa single supervisor?7 lamp or UNITED .srATns PATENT fornica- ELiAisflE. Ri-Es, "oF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TeL'EPiio-NE-EXQHANGE APPARATUS..

no. 796.0199.l

. Be it known that I, ELIAS Rias, a 'citizen of the United States, aiid a resident of New York cit ,in thejcounty of New York' and State of ew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Teleollowing is a specification,l Q

hone-Exchange Apparatus, of which the My *"nve'ntion relates to telephone-ex` change lswitch a paratus; and the Objectis with a single su to:v improve and acilitate the operation of a manual 4 exchange more particularly with reference to the operation of clearing out'.

lfHitherto 'it hasbeen the practice to prof' ,vide in connection with thecentral-office'apparatus acair of clearing-out lamps or other devices, ordinarily termed supervisory. lamps, one of which lights when one of two connectedsubscribers hangs up his telephone, while the other lights in response to the hangingup 'ofthe other subscribers instruf,A

ment upon the hooker other support provided. l Inconneetion with such supervisory lam sr there has usually been associated'a n iot-lamp for-the Ypurposel of moredefinitely-calling the operators attention to the y signalsv indicated bythe double supervisor f' or-kclearing-out lamps. in this system, in a -ditionto the confusion arising'from and notwithstanding the em loyment of so large a number of lamps, an especially owing to the. negligence of subscribers in .returning their apparatus to normal condition, it fre uently becomes necessary for the central-o ce operator to listen in upon the conversation. and frequently to make inquiries of one or the other subscriber in order to determine whether it is ioper to disconnect the two subscribers. n other words, the supervilsory part of the systcnrfails of -it's intended object, and the giving of prompt', accurate,

and e'llicient with. l

The purpose of my )resent invention is to overcome this diilcu ty and. at the samev time to permit theoper'ation to be carried on sier-vice is greatlyI interfered`4 other indicator, aswell as to great simplify the work of central operators and lmaterially improve and expedite the giving and taking" down of connections and eliminating other disadvantages incident to existing telephone switchboard practice.

Other objects of my invention are to simplify. the work ci" the central o )crater by a'rranging the apinirat us involve in the act of Speciiica'tion'ot Letters Patent. Apfiimion ne@ my 2o, 1904. 'serai ist 208.894. v

' Patented aug. 1', 1905.

necessary coperation of the subscribers themselves, and to thereby reducetoa mini-V mum or eliminate altogetherthe delays resulting under existing practice' .fronicri-e131 carelessness, or neglect oiithe pait'ofl both vthe,public and the switchboard-operator.

out device for eac i co'r'dfcircuit, of meanssii j ject tothe conjoint action of'otli'e connected" subscribers circuits for controlling the-,lightiing or extinguishmentof thelamp, as .the case may be, and subscribers apparatus,

comprising automatic switching or"circuit changing devices' of the gravity type," enibodied invoi` constituting'a part of the receivvin@r instrument itselfa'nd. sol'organiz'e'd 'that w en the .instrumentk is laidaside afterfuse the circuits will be automatically changed in the instrument and bring about the neces-v sary changes of electrical condition to cause the single'supervisory lamp to light orto be extinguished, as the case may be, at the censcribers have `finished their conversation.

. While I usel the terni supervisdrylamp I do not wish to be lunderstood as restricting myself to the use of such an instrument asan indicator or clearing-out signal, since I may' use in placev thereof an electromagneticdrop or other signaling device. l

invention consists, further,- in combin- M ing the supervisory lamp or other device with the repeating-coil of the cord-circuit by roviding for said coil asuitable armature, w ich controls directly or indirectly the circuit of the supervisory device and which will respond and cause the supervisory device/'to indicate that the conversation is ended only when a similar electric condition exists in both sides of the coil.

M invention consists, :fuithermorcVin thecoin ination, with the` novel. switchboard signaling devices referred to, of apparatus at the subscribers stations so constructed and arranged-that the lifting of the tele hone-l -freceiver to the ear for conversation wi automaticall operate the calling-signal at central, and so t at'the removal of thereeeiver fromthe position `which it occupies when held.

against the ear, whether it be placed upon a hook-support or not, will automaticall opcrate the said .signal orsignals to in icate My invention consists i'nthe combination,

ervisory lamp or clearing-A (when such removal of the receiver from its .listening or conversational position is effected by both of the connected subscribers) that the' conversation isat anend and that the lconnection'at central is to be taken down.

My'invention consists in the novelcombinations of. devicesvhereinafter described and thou-s ",e'ciied in the claims. galli eraccom anying drawings, Figure 1 usla diag-rami] ustrating my invention by showing two `subscribers connected by one cord-circuit, together with the devices and appurtenances 1n usual diagrammatic form.

l lig.v 2 is a diagram showing a modification in the manner of vcontrollin the supervisory device. ig 3 is a modification Ain the line-si als shown in Fi 1. Fig. 4 illustrates, part y in diagram, a su scribers the operation of telephone equi ment, showing the position of the receiver w en not in use.

Referring to Fig. 1, the two sides of each subscribers circuit are indicated b the numerals 5 14. At the central Voffice t e"circuit of each subscriber may include, as indicated at the lbft `of the diagram, the signal-receiving electromagnet 9 and theusual source of energy 8, said magnet being connected with the twosides of the circuit through a pair of contacts 6, insulated from one another and .carried bythe armature of a cut-oli relay 52,

connected on one side to ground 51 and on the into the spring-jack, .t e circuit of a suitable source ofnerg'y 50 is closed through the sleeve 1 9a,`sle eve-contact 19h, and magnet so as to break the line connection of mag-y net 9 at the back contactsof cut-out relay52 and to thereby extinguish the lamp' 13. At the same time the generator 50 operates the relay-magnet 41 td'draw up its armatura.

whichv is maintained in this,l condition while the plug 19Crernains in`thc jack. The two sides of the circuit 5 14 connect, as usual, to 'the jack-springs 16 and 17, as usual in the art, whence connection is formed," as usual,

' yvith the two sides 21 25 of the cord-circuit,

which connects, respectively, throughhelices 22 and 24, forming one side of the repeatingcoil with the source of central energy 23.v

. 27 is the operators ringing-key, vwhich acts on springs 2() 26 in the cord-circuit to `connect them, respectively, with the poles of rin gin enerator 28, as usual in the art. Agfe operators head set, coniiected in wire 36 across the sides of the cord-circuit, is shown generator 23, as alread irechte as comprising the usual transmitter 37, receiver 38, and listening-key 51.

At the central office and in connection with each cord-circuit a clearing-out signal consisting of lamp 42 or other device is provided. This is in a local circuit with a generator 40.

This local circuit includes the contacts of a relay electromagnet 41, which is in the circuit of battery 50L and is energized through ring-contact 19b and cut-ofi relay 52 when the plug 19Cis inserted in the jack. The con- -nection of battery 40 is through the front contact of relay 41 andthrough the back` contact 39 of an armature-lever 34, which is normally held down by the action of spring 35 or other means, but which under one method of o erating my invention, hereinafter describe ,is elevated so as to break con tact with 39 simultaneously with the closing of this local circuit by the armature of the relay 41, when the latter is energized by the insertion ofthe answeringlug into the jack of the calling subscriber. he armature-lever 34 is subject to the action of the two sets of helices 22 24, 22 24, wound upon the U- shaped core 22 of my repeating-coil, which helices are respectively 1n portions of the, cord-circuit leading,respectively, to the two subscribers stations, .so that the arma-ture 34 may not close the circuit of battery 401mless the circuits of both subscribers are open. i

These helices or coils, as shown, comprise the ordinary windings of the repeating-coil itself,

the cord-circuit and described and as usual in the art. Un er these conditions and as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings which is connected t `the armature 34 constitutes apart of the magnetic Ycircuit for the repeating-coil, the arrangement being such, as will hereinafter more fully appear, that the magnetic circuit ofthe repeating-coil will be closed through Aits armature while 'conversation 1s gom on.

- The lamp or signal 42 may be used either as a combined' supervisory and clearing-out signal or as a clearing-out signal alone, ac-

cording to the adjustment of sprinfr 35. ln

lthe former case the spring 35 shouldibe given such a tension that the action of the `coils in' both subscribers circuits will be required in order to open the circuit ofbattery 40. When the lamp 42 is used as a clearing-out signal alone, the spring 35 is given a lesser tension, so that the armature will be lifted by the action of the coil in one subscribers circuit. 'lhe referred devices at subscribers stations (s iown at the left and right of Fig. 1) comprise the following: 15 is a metal cup mounted upon or within the receiver, the 1 coils of which are indicated at 56. 4 Within the cup, but out of contactwithit, are mounted the contact-ring 55 and a central Contact 54, lVit-hin the cup is also a body 2 of mobile matter like mercury, adapted to bridge the gap between vthe metal cup and ring 55 when ltelltale53 may I erated. from battery 8 at the'exchange as' 'the mercury 2 momentarily connects cup 15 and contact 54 listening to norma position the mercuriY acts as ac Aalso perm1ts him 1n case of failure to report,

the parts are in the' position shownA in the drawlngs, which is that which they are supp osed to occupy when thereceiver is held to `the ears.v The'coils 5,6 are, however g shownin `the diagram in the position` which they 'f would` koccupy naturally when the receiver is ing by its cord, as indicated in s position the'cup and associated` parts 54 land 55'l Would" be lturnedr A through fin-angle of ninety degrees'from that mercury would.` occup the' shown, and the the-apex-of the cup, b'ut out o conf In case a return-signal'is desired a'visible or audible signal device or be. provided, which is op- `osit1on. In passing from listening again makes momentary-connection, and t e signal 531s "operatedfrom' battery 23 or other source connectedacross thetwo sides of the subscribers circuit at central.

' subscriber that the centralis in This signal informs the line from this station to proper working condition' andv that his signal Ahas been received,= and thus eck upon the central'operator and the line. out of order over some other telephone, thereby avoiding the loss of time that would' otherwise be incurred vin frequent atv tempts to signal central in the event that his line is `not yin roper condition. It `also Warns thesubscr ber, should he allow his re- "'ceiver tovwander from his ear whilehe is lholding the wire, and compels him orhis correspondent to remain at "attention during the time'the line is at their joint disposal. "4.is the usual transmitterat the subscribers denser `in the bridge.

As illustratedl in Fig. 1, theparts are shown as `bcingin condition for conversation. 4 Vlfhen t he"sigr nalv 42 is employed as a com- "station, 32the bridging-bell, and 38 the con- .bin'ed supervisory and clearing-out signal, vthe'operationfof the devices is When' the4 subscriberI at the left lifts his refy b as follows:

effect beingto operate the line-lamp 13 in. the

usualmanner. When the operator ratl `the central station in'response to this signal in- 'i-.se'rtsher' answering-plu r 1,9, the line-lamp 13" is extinguished by t eyaction ofv batteryy 50%L upon the cutfoutrela'y 52, which is vin itspassage fromnormal t completin thecircuit of cal battery 40 and 'lightin t e .lamp 42. AThis vlamp remains lighte and thus serves in its capacity of a supervisorysignal while'eentral is signaling to side of the repeatin -coils 22 24 are energized from the common attery 23 the tension'of vspring 35 has been soadjusted that the core up its armature '34. When the subscriber at theY ri ht lifts his receiver in res onse to a signal om central operator, he c oses the vcircuit through. the mercury in his instru ment, thereby permittin tery '28 to flow through t effect of said coil. This action extin uishes subscriber called for has responded) by opening the circuit between 34 and 39. The par-4 tjes are therefore in the .tion shown in Fig. 1,4 and the lamp 42, which is now temporarily dark, enters u on its second function by serving as `a c earingout signal ready to light u once more whenboth subscribers have finished conversation. Should lamp 42 remain lighted after central ceedsto rinfrhim up a ain by manipulating her ringingely-.27 untllz the lamp42 is ex'- tinguished,l w i scriber has responded. She thereafter pays the lamp should once more become li hted. .After `armature 34 has been drawn repeating-coihso as to extin uish lamp 42,

subscribers have 4coil theel/irre/nt flowing in either 'half of the energizingleoils 22 24 alone will b'e sufficient to maintain it in its attracted position agalnst the tension. of. spring 35. lt will .therefore beapparent that after the subscribers have een connect-ed. and are ment temporarily for the purpose of looking up any rfe uirerl. information, &c.`, without operating tv ie/"clearing-out lamp 42. snbscribers, however, ments, the circuit from battery 23 will be broken at both ends, thereby dcnergizing ture34fto drop and causing lamp'42 to light, upon seeing which the central pull out "her connecting-plugs without further question or information, thereby extinffguislung the lamp through the delnagnetiza.-

tion of relay 4l. thereby energized to attract its'arn'iature andv to open the circuit of b'atterysfA .inthe customary manner. At 4the same time magnet 41 lsenergized and draws up its'armature, thus the other'subscribe'r, because although one j of vsaidl coil'is of insufficient strength to draw i current from bate otherhalf of the repeating-coil and vcausing' the armature o f. said coil to be raised by reason of the added y the lamp 42 (thus notifying central t at the conversational. p`0.si-4 'l signals the subscriber at the right, she pro.4

ch indicates that the sub# i no further attention tothe connection until up y the said lampy willnot again be lig ted until both f placed down their receivers;

forthe reason, that owing to the proximity I f of armature 34 tothe core of therepeatingin, conversation-` elther oneor the other may leave his instrulf both leave their instruthecore of the repeatingfeoil, allowing armaoperator will When the hun p or other signal 421s to be used merely for clearing-out' purposes, the

line.

tension of the spring 35 is reduced sufficiently to permit its armature 3.4 to be drawn up the moment central inserts her plu in response to a call from a subscriber and remains in thiscondition until both subscribers after T e armature-operating coils may either- `be those of the ie eating-coil itself, as just v described with re erence to Fig. 1, or they ma be separate helices in circuit with said coi s and wound upon'a separate relay-core common to both, as shown at 45 in Fig. 2, in which'latter case the magnetic circuit 22 of the repeating-coil is not broken and the type of re eating-coils at present in use on commonattery switchboards may be retained.

In Fig. 3 the lamp 13 is shown as in the direct line-circuit instead of being'in a local circuit controlled by a relay 9, as in Fig. 1, In the case of the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 it is obvious that the return-signal given by 53 will show lWithout question whether the signal is received or Anot at the central office, Whereas. in the case of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 the failure of the lanip to liglit throu h defect of the local circuit or devices in sai circuit would not be indicated on' 53'at the. subscribers station.

The gravity-operated devices described are in their general manner of operation substantially the same as set forth in my prior application for patent filed June 23, 1899, Serial From what has been said it will be seen that the'repeating-coil shown in Fig. l is em-l ployed by me-iiot only in its capacity of an inductional transformer for the' Avoice-currents, but also as an electromagnet for operating the lamp 42, which, as already stated,

may serve either as a supervisory or clear.

The right and lefting-eut lamp, or both. hand coils may be wound around the core 22 either in the saine or in opposite directions without .affecting the o eration ofthe device as a medium for the in uctional transference of the voice-currents when the diaphragm of the transmitter atone or the other side is vibrated. In order, however, to prevent the entire or partial neutralization of the core 22 by the simultaneous closing of the battery 23 through both sets of coils 22 24, 22 24,

g I prefer to wind the coils upon the core in the same direction, so that their effect upon the core and its armature 34 will be cumulative. In this manner it will be seen that the magnetic circuit of the repeating-coil is not only closed while conversation is going on, but

also that when the armature 34 has once been drawn up by the combined action of bothcoils (where this arrangement is adopted) it will remain in this position, even if one or the other subscriber lays down his receiver, by

virtue of theclosing of the air-gap between the core 22 and the armature 34. If, however,` the second subscriber also lays down his receiver or releases his hold upon it, the core 22 will be completely denergized and release its armature 34, which coming in contact with the stop 39 completes the circuit of battery 40 and again lights the lamp 42, which thus becomes a plositive clearing-out signal, upon seeing wliic i the o erator takes down the connection, as alrea described. When my invention is appliedy to existing coininon-battery switchbo'ards, in which r'epeating-coils of the closed-magnetic-cirouit type are already provided, I refer to employ tie arrangement shown in ig. 2, in which i use a separate relay 45, provided with two windings in series, respectively, with the helices of the repeating-coil. The action of relay 45 upon its armature 34 and lamp 42 will in other respects be recisely the same as that above describedwvitili respect to the construction shown in Fig. l.

It will also be understood that my invention may be temporarily applied to existing switchboard equi ments of the usual type, (in which the r-odeircuits are provided with two supervisor f lamps and with the .usual lot-lamp) w iile the necessary changes in installation are being eiected with great advantage to the servire. ln such cases when. one of` two connected subscribers lays down his receiver one of the two supervisor Y lamps lights up, as has heretofore been t e c'ase when the subscriber has restored his receiver to itshook-switch, which he frequentlv does when he temporarily leaves his Vposition at the instrument. However, when my instruments take' the place at the subscribers station of the present type of hook-switch apparatus the/central o erator pays no` attention whatever to the illumination of but one of the supervisorylamps, since such sidnal-indicates merely that one of the two suiscribers has left his instrument for the pur ose of looking u some desired information or the other an that vthe other subscriber, whose supervisory lamp is dark, is holding the wire. Since by my invention the lamp-circuit is closed by the natural act of'releasing Ythe rcceiver, (instead of by hanging it upon a hook-- Pli@ greatly expedited. l

f I.y am aware that it has been before prowill be apparent that the signalinr system is rendered positive, that central lhas vat all v-times complete supervision over the condi- 'tion ofany two connected lines, that there can be no. element of doubt" as to the meaning of the subscribenssivnals, as under existing practice, that crentraiis not obliged after.

- once having established connectionlto listen in or make in uiries ii'i"or`ii ;;.to ascertain whether or n'ot't e line is still in use', as is sfi `often necessary under the "present system,l

that lines cannot'be idly tied u or reported as being busy by failure on t e part of the switchboard Aoperatorto properly interpret her supervisory or clearingout signals, lthat connections are more 'rapidly obtained and. when obtained not likely to be broken into by operators vto the detriment of the sub-- scribers, and, finali ,that the-work of central l operators in estab ishing, supervis'in and takin;r down connections is very mue simand 'the 4service itself improved and lposed to employ a supervisory. signal the purpose of which is to leavev the central-office operator nothing to do but to viwatch such signal but in such system as heretofore organ- 44ized it is still necessary and is, in fact, part of the olperators duty 'to listen -in in case acertain' ength of time hasv elapsed without her getting the clearing-out signalwith the ur ose of seeing if conversation .is iinised.

lhis it is necessary for her todo, because of the fact that hook-switches are .employed in s uch. revious systems, and it therefore fre'- quent y becomes necessar f when no clearingout signal is received an' when by listening in it is ascertained that conversation isfiinished to cause a special buzz signal to. be sent warning the subscriber, jwho may' have care-- .lesslyT left his vinstrumentoii the hook, torestoi'c the same@ In my 'improved system, however, the :operator .simply `follows im-4 plicitly the indication-ofthe' supervisory or clearing-out lamp, since'owiiig tothe peculiar' kind oi *telephone-switch." employed by. the

subscriber she nia 'Y' knoyiT positively thatA so vlllong as the lamp ails to vlight the line is in y(use icr conversation and may likewise know resigned the use 'oi the line.

.What I claim as my invention is` that when it does light both subscribers have a telephone-exch. nge,`VA the combiiia- "tien with a siilglc lamp or signal device operatingboth as .a supervisory and a clearingoiit signal, ofinieansfor-operatin the saine when 'the central-office operator inserts the answering-plug, and means responsive to ar change iinthe electric condition f both of two connected subscribers lines for throwing 5 said signal out ofoperation during conversation, and in to operation only 'when both subscribers resign the'use of the l-in'e,l Zuln a telephone-exchange, .the combinapose escribed.

.tion with a clearing-'out'signai at the central /ofiice sub'ectto t e conjoint action of two connecte subscriberscircuits,ofsubscribers apparatus embodying automatic switching or circuit-changing devices of the '-'gravityty'pe, constituting a partof each receiving instrument, and means at the central oflice corrtrolling said clearing-out signal and adapted to ca ll the-same into action only when the re-.

ccivers of both of two connected subscribers are tilted' from the position which -they occupy when in use forlistening.

f 3. In a telephone-exchange a paratus, 'the combination with two connecte subscribers i circuits, of a coilin each, an armature acted upon b f saidv coils conjointly, a signal-circuit controlled byy said armature and a rela f also controlling said circuit' .and connecte vclose ythe' circuit of said relay w en t e plug is pserted in the spring-jac in response to a Ca l ,Y f I V y 4'. In a telephone-exchange apparatus, the qombinationwitha repeating-coil, of anarmature'racted upon b parts of said repeat- 5*.' In atelephone-exehange apparatus, the combination with a superviso or clearing' out signal, otmeans forcontro ling .thejsame responsive -to the conjoint changeof velectric condition in the circuitsof 4both of two connected subscribers and'subscr'ibers ap-l paratus comprisingl automatic switching or l.circuit-changing devices ofthe 'gravity type.

embodied in or constituting a partof the receivin `instrument itself, as and for the purvisory or clearing-out signa means for'controlling the same responsive only when both parts of the 'repeating-coil'act-which respec- 'tively are in the circuits of the two connected subscribersand subscribers apparatus comprising automatic switchingior circuit-changing devices pf the-gravity' type embodied' in or constituting a art ofthe receiving instruinentitself, as an for the purpose described.

7. In a telephone-exchange apparatus, the combination with a single supervisory signal device, of means for bringing-the same into action when the operator plugs into the call,

ing-line, and means for t rowiiir the same out of action'when the called lsu scriber responds and into action' only when both-subscribersresign the line, said means coniprising an electromagnetlat the central oflice to a contact upon the operators plug ada ted to 6. In a telephone-exchange apparatus, the. combination of' a r peat'ing coil, a superof one coil onl having coils in both subscribers circuits, and subscribers apparatus comprising automatic circuit-changing or switching devices of the gravit type, embodied in or constituting a part o thereceiving instrument itself7 as and or the purpose described.

8.' In a telephone-exchan e apparatus, the combination with a si na clearinG-out device and actuating-coi s connected respectively to the circuits oiitwo subscribers, of an armature controlling said signal device and a retractor adjusted as described to,y prevent condltion for conversatiomof a'telltale-signal at the subscribers station and meanspfor niomentarily.closing the circuit thereof as ,the switch passes from one position to the other.

10. -n a telephone-exchange, the co1nbination with the subscribers apparatus, of a telltale-signal at the subscribers station, a source of energy at the central oliice, a subscribers switch for changing the circuits from normal condition to condition for conversation,v 1an'd;con'tacts operated by said switch in changing from one position to the other and ada ted'to cl'o's'e the circuit of the telltale, as an orythc purpose described.

A Signed at New York,in the county of New' vYork and State of New York, this 18th day of May, A. D. 190.4.

ELIAS E. RIES.-

Witnesses:

C.' FQTISCHNER., Jr.,

Zo ANNA B. TALLMAN 

